Adam Schiff has been busy with CA ag issues, but Delta water project needs attention | Opinion

As the first California lawmaker in 30 years to sit on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Sen. Adam Schiff has taken the assignment seriously. Since getting sworn into office on Dec. 9, the senator has released 268 press statements through June 3, of which at least 35 focused on agricultural issues like water, tariffs, farm workers or research.

“Whatever our views are on other issues, I’m still going to be an aggressive champion of the industry,” Schiff told Fresno Bee staff writer Robert Rodriguez in April. “I want the farmers and the farmworkers to view me as their ally and their champion, and look forward to getting to know them better.”

The Burbank-based federal lawmaker, a Democrat who served in the House for two decades, stressed his support of California’s $58 billion agricultural industry during a May 23 meeting with the McClatchy California Editorial Boards.

“I think that his incredible breadbasket of the country, this hub of innovation in agriculture, really has a lot to teach the rest of the country,” Schiff told the editorial boards. “This is a towering industry in California.”

It’s also an industry with an uncertain future as it tries to adapt to climate change, unreliable water sources and the impact of tariffs. In Trump’s first trade war of 2018-19, California farmers suffered $875.1 million in losses but received only $451.4 million from a federal bailout program.

Schiff has visited farmers and field laborers in the Imperial Valley, the San Joaquín Valley and Northern California. He has met with United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero as well as Fresno County Farm Bureau President Ryan Jacobsen.

Teaming with House Democrats Jim Costa of Fresno, Adam Gray of Merced and Salud Carbajal of Santa Bárbara, Schiff sent a letter last month to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and the General Services Administration to keep open USDA offices that had been slated to be shuttered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Monday, Schiff reported that eight of nine USDA offices would remain open, including those in Madera and Bakersfield. The field offices are vital for farmers in selling and marketing their crops, as well as helping with disaster aid.

“California is the nation’s largest agricultural state, and these USDA offices are vital for farmers and rural communities to access essential services they rely on,” said Schiff in a statement.

Championing ag-related issues

To his credit, Schiff, 64, has also raised concerns about the negative impact tariffs have on California farmers, who exported $24.3 billion worth of products in 2023. He has proposed legislation to increase funding for agricultural research and asked the USDA to explain the cancellation of previously approved funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program.

In his visit to Fresno last month, Schiff posted on his Instagram page: “Fresno is the heart and the heartland of California — and its farmers are the backbone of American agriculture. Appreciated the chance to hear from them yesterday, and to be their voice on U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee.”

The committee has wide-ranging responsibilities, overseeing ag production, rural development, food security, forestry and inspection of livestock, meat and agricultural products. Schiff also serves on the Senate’s Judiciary, Environment and Public Works, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship committees.

We applaud the senator’s efforts thus far, but suggest he get up to speed quickly on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Delta Conveyance Project, a proposal to modernize the state’s water infrastructure by constructing tunnels to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the California Aqueduct. Sen. Alex Padilla has not taken a any stand.

“I haven’t reached a conclusion on the conveyance project yet,” Schiff said. “I’m still in the process, frankly, of trying to get my head around the whole agriculture industry. I would say the subset of agriculture that is the most difficult is water. People spend a lifetime studying it and still struggle with it.”

Schiff said he is “trying to figure out what is the most effective and efficient way to meet the competing needs of farms, cities (and) wildlife.” The multi-billion cost of the project, he added, requires “we weigh the costs of that with what it would deliver.”

“I’m trying to do what Sen. (Dianne) Feinstein did, which was to take the time to spend with the stakeholders. I’m hearing people with all different views on this subject and then (I’ll) make an informed judgment.”

That’s fair. We hope the two senators realize that Californians need their take on a critical water issue.